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Setting of Seishin
Setting Because Pure Heart mainly take place in the 16th century, this section provides some pictures on the ancient regions of Japan and an overview of its world. Long ago, Japan was divided into over sixty provinces or kuni (国). Kuni are also sometimes called "countries", and each one has their own administration led by the noble Shugo Daimyo. The daimyo were appointed by the Shogun or military warlord, to occupy and oversee the provinces (law, economy, etc); but over time, some Daimyo were replaced by even their followers. During the 16th century, there was a time of anarchy and the daimyo would fight amongst each other to take control. Feudalism & Society Feudalism is a type of land management through a pattern of mutual deals with leaders and peasantry. When the Japanese Imperial Court declined, the Shogun reigned as the de-facto leader of Japan for many centuries. The mighty Shogun gave lands, called fiefs ( \fēf\ ) to nobles, who become loyal Daimyo. Daimyo excercize control over the fiefs by gathering soldiers called samurai to provide military service for them as vassals or retainers, in return for the land. Lastly, legal protection are given to the peasants, who supply labor and heavy taxes for the ones above them. Feudal Japan Hierarchy (Wikipedia, English) The peasantry made up the majority of Japan, worked around the clock, and were not allowed to leave their land. Some were allowed to be chartered into the military. This way, stability and security was assured. The lands in Feudalism are manors; in Japanese, that is called shōen (荘園 or 庄園, the first symbols meaning "sho" can mean villa and manor). During the Warring States or Sengoku Period (AKA: Wars with a lot of daimyo fighting), the Ashikaga, the Shogun family at the time, were losing loyalty from many daimyo and the goverment armies fought for power. Resistance forces of peasants and lower-ranked samurai were gathered into community bands called Ikki to oppose them and fend off any kind of danger. For farming communities in such difficult regions, like in the mountains, the yielding to the lords feudal trend was not nessessary. Those kind of lands were tough for conventional war. There is much info about ninja (and religious sects) living in independence from the ruling class. Iga and Omi The above photo is cropped from Feudal Map of the Tokugawa Era, originally from Maproom The focal provinces here are Iga and Omi, the origin of Japan's most famous ninja schools. According to history伊賀国, during the days where the Imperial Court ruled, Iga Province used to be a part of the Ise Province and is a low rank country. Kyoto, the former capital of Japan, was located nearby Iga to the west and played a valuable role. During the Muromachi, Iga was somewhat ruled by the Niki family伊賀国. The Niki, like the Iga ninja's employer Motoyasu Matsudaira (AKA: Ieyasu Tokugawa), seem to have the same ancestry (Seiwa Genji family) and also moved to Mikawa Province仁木氏, Tokugawa/Matsudaira's residence. So the Iga's ties to Matsudaira/Tokugawa may not be a coincidence. During Sengoku, Iga went under the control of the Iga Sokoku Ikki and was when ninja activity sprouted. It is unknown as to what happened to the Niki. To the north of Iga neighbors Omi Province, the home of the Koka ninja. Koka (こうか), also called Koga (こうが), is a district directly above Iga and both are separated by only a range of mountains. Much like Iga, Omi is adjacent to the capital of Kyoto and serves as strategic guarding point to the northeast. The Koga's employer, the Rokkaku are one of the divided families of the ruling Sasaki family. During Sengoku, the Rokkaku have a rivalry with another Omi family, the Azai, who are allied with Nobunaga Oda. It is a rumor or myth that the ancestors of the Koka bred and trained horses for the Imperial Court. What is a Ninja? "A person who uses ninjutsu". The motive behind Pure Heart is the creation of a "real ninja". The familiar image of a ninja is a mysterious man cloaked in black and is able to utilize elite martial arts, magic such as fire, camouflage and illusions, and is able to carry out assassinations and reconnaissance operations. MGW's plan is to reinvent the ninja concept from their famous image in media for a broad audience. Ninja have various names such as the following: 水破（すっぱ, suppa）, 出抜（すっぱ, suppa）, 突破（とっぱ, toppa）, 透破（とっぱ, toppa), 伺見（うかがみ, ukagami）,「奪口（だっこう, dakkou）, 竊盗（しのび, shinobi), 草（くさ, kusa）, 郷導（きょうどう, kyoudou), 郷談（きょうだん, kyoudan）,「間士（かんし, kanshi） 忍者 概要iganinja.jp. In Seishin, a ninja is a person who uses ninjutsu or similiar unconventional tactics, but they won't be referred to as ninja in third person or through the characters' first person. Towards one another they are called by their homeland (ie: an Iga, Koga), but because of their methods, are given different names such as "shadow men", "hiding thieves", and "chaos" from the rest of society. It is interesting to note that they were called shinobi (忍, the familiar alt name for ninja) and that there were various ways to spell it to make it mean "dark arts" or "to forebear" (to avoid or shun, keep away). Seishin: Ninja Method In reality, information on the ninja are scarce. In Seishin fiction, the Iga and Koka live by agriculture and farming through a system of collectivism, but still subjugated to daimyo up until the Sengoku. Samurai, immigrants, and monks have meld with Iga and Koka population, their influence leading to the birth of ninjutsu. In the ninjutsu practice, there is much study in plants, animals, mountain ascetics, espoinaige, military tactics, and more. The Koga in particular are specialized in making medicine and have a pharmaceutical village. There are many Ji-samurai families such as the Hattori and the Fujibiyashi, who are important in the ninja culture. The ninja are divided into three ranks: genin (下忍, under ninja), chūnin (中忍, middle ninja) and jōnin, (上忍, top ninja). There are only jonin in Iga family, and they are land-owning samurai who rule the genin. The genin, who are mostly employed by Japan's daimyo, are tenant farmers under the jonin. The chunin are small bosses of the genin. In Koga, there are no jounin so chuunin is the top rank instead甲賀流. Naming Marriage (Family) and Women Woman ninja are called kunoichi. Japanese women The system of Ie History of Marriage and Arranged Marriages in Japan Family in Japan References External links *Four Divisions of Society (East Asia) (English) *Political Systems (English) *Winjutsu (English) *Feudal Japan Economy (Wikipedia: Category) *Japanese Feudalism (English) *Topics: Confucianism (English)